Vibration Training and Improved Performance?

Have you ever wondered if whole-body vibration (WBV) techniques could pass as a viable warm-up protocol? Researchers wondered, too.

A study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (2012; 26 [2], 438–42) pitted WBV against a gluteal muscle-specific group warm-up and a no warm-up control to determine which method yielded the greatest explosive output. The test subjects were 22 Australian-rules football players. The WBV group stood atop a platform vibrating at 30 hertz for 45 seconds, and the gluteal group performed “low load” glute-targeted exercises. All participants were then tested for peak power production during countermovement jump training using a Smith machine within 5 minutes of each protocol. So which method proved most effective?

“Peak power production was significantly greater after the gluteal training than after both the control and the whole body vibration,” the study authors observed. They saw no significant differences between no warm-up and the WBV.

“These results have demonstrated that a low load exercise protocol targeting the gluteal muscle group is effective at acutely enhancing peak output in elite athletes,” the authors confirmed. “Coaches may consider incorporating low load exercises targeting the gluteal muscle group into the warm-up of athletes competing in sports requiring explosive power output of the lower limbs.”